Millard County, Utah Deputy killed on traffic stop;NASCAR at Texas;planning for a Blue Knights trip; gas & energy costs on the rise again

Grant County, Washington Deputy Sheriff John Bernard died as a result of a single car accident January 3rd. The west bound patrol car left the roadway and rolled. It was found by a passerby around 7:20 PM. The cause of the accident is being investigated. Deputy Bernard had served with the Grant County Sheriff’s Department for 4 years and had been in Law Enforcement since 1997. He is survived by his wife and two sons, one who is also a Grant County Deputy Sheriff.

At the Federal Courthouse in Las Vegas, Nevada, a gunman opened fire with a shotgun, killing a Court Security Officer and wounding a U.S. Marshal before he was shot to death. The slain Court Security Officer was identified as 65-year old Stanley Cooper, who was a retired Las Vegas Police Sergeant. He served with the Las Vegas Police Department for 26 years and retired in 1991. The wounded 48-yr old U.S. Marshal was not identified. He was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Condolences go out to the families, friends and co-workers of Deputy Bernard and Officer Cooper.

Shortly after 1 AM on Tuesday January 5th, Millard County, Utah Deputy Sheriff Josie Greathouse Fox, 37, was killed by gunfire when she made a traffic stop near Delta, Utah. A massive manhunt is underway as this is being written. The suspected shooter is an illegal alien and convicted felon who was previously deported. Deputy Fox had served with the Millard County Sheriff’s Department for 5 years. She is survived by her husband and two children. Prayers and condolences go out to the family, friends and co-workers of Deputy Fox.

I just learned that Deputy Fox’ accused killer and the “person of interest” suspected of being an accomplice were captured while hiding in a shed at Beaver Utah about 8 AM on January 6th. He will now face charges in Millard County, Utah.

WINTER!! What more can I say?? I know it could be worse, as we have been getting a few days between each storm. It’s getting old, and I could not imagine living in Alaska and working in this weather 8, 9 or 10 months out of the year. Heck, I was tired of the snow when Octoberfest at Beatrice Speedway got snowed out way back in October!

It’s been so cold I haven’t even attempted to start a fire in the wood burned in the garage. I just don’t think it would do much good, but if the wind stays calm, I just might try it. If I can get the temperature up to 50 I will be able to work in it. I’ll just have to try it. I did manage to get enough wood inside to last me a day before the rest of it got buried under the snow.

All Ready to Race and Nowhere to Go


I still haven’t made a 100% decision on going to Texas Motor Speedway in April for the NASCAR weekend. There’s no problem in getting tickets and the last I looked there are plenty of motel rooms left at a reasonable price. I’d love to be able to ride the Gold Wing there, but the weather may not be warm enough yet. I’m just hoping it will be warm enough to ride to Montana in July for the Blue Knights International Conference. The other long ride I want to make is to Grand Forks, North Dakota in September for another Blue Knights get-together. I also hope we can find the time to go to Colorado for a few days this summer, too.

I haven’t looked real close at the map yet, but if I remember right, Billings in between 1,000 and 1,100 miles from Beatrice. That would make it about 550 miles a day to make it in two days. I’m guessing Greeley, Colorado might be about half way, depending on the route we take. Coming home, I’d like to take a little more time to do some sightseeing along the way. While we’re in the Billings area, I’d like to go to the Little Big Horn area as well as into Yellowstone. That’s a couple of places we’ve never been.

I can look at different routes to Billings without leaving the house. By doing Google searches, I can even see what the scenery along the way looks like If we have to make there in 2 days, the best way would probably to go west out of Beatrice on Hwy 4. That’s the route we’ve taken the last 3 years when we’ve gone to Greeley. We make the first part of the trip a bit long as we don’t stop until we get to Holdrege where we get fuel and take aa bit of a break. That’s about 150 miles from Beatrice. We usually try to take a break about every 100 miles.

From Holdrege we go west on Hwy 6/34 for 73 miles and stop at McCook for lunch and fuel. From there it’s another 92 miles on Hwy 34 to Wray, Colorado where another fuel stop and break are in order. From Wray to Ft Morgan is another 88 miles and we stop at the 80 exit for fuel and a break. From Ft Morgan to Heather and Dana’s is about 55 miles, making for about a 460 mile day. If we leave Beatrice by 8 AM, we can ride at or just under the speed limit and take an hour for lunch and be at Greeley before 5:30 PM. If we push a little, we can make even better time. However, traveling by motorcycle isn’t usually a push to see how good a time we can make.

If we can get out of Greeley by 7 AM on Sunday, we should be able to be in Billings at a decent time. Going north out of Greeley on Hwy 85, it’s 42 miles to the Colorado/Wyoming State line. From there it’s 8 miles to I-80 and 3 miles west on I-80 to I-25. It’s another 70 miles north on I-25 to Wheatland, where we will take a fuel stop and break. By the time we leave Wheatland, it will be 9:30. It’s 108 miles to Casper, which should put us there about 11:15. We’ll get fuel and take a lunch break and should be back on the road by 12:30. From there to Buffalo it’s 113 miles, so we should be there about 2:15. After fuel and a break, we’ll be back on the road about 2:30. It’s 60 miles to the Wyoming/Montana State Line and we should be there about 3:30. From there to Billings is 110 miles, which should put us in Billings by 6 PM. That day will be about 515 miles total.

With the big fuel tank on the Gold Wing, there should not be any fuel issues. It has always been our experience that the fuel tank far outlasts our butts!!

I’ve noticed the price of gas is creeping up, even though I keep reading that we have plenty of oil. When racing season started in 2009, gas at the pumps was $1.999. It went up 12 cents last week - maybe because our gas tax went up a half cent??

A newspaper article now says that gasoline prices are expected to soon be above the highest prices of 2009. It already is here. There is also a sidebar that says we paid 54 cents per therm for natural gas in November and will be paying 72 cents in January due to the severe cold weather we’ve experienced for the last month. While all this is going on, we keep hearing of global warming. I guess we can all be glad about global warming, because without it, I’m afraid it would get pretty cold around here!

I was stationed at Ft Lee, Virginia the first part of 1971. I drove my 1964 Chevrolet Impala back home to Crete, Nebraska from Ft Lee which cost me $40 in gas. Who today can say they can fill their empty gas tank for $40? In 1996, we rode our Gold Wing to Tustin, California and back for $149 in gas. When I was in high school and just out, I remember people driving to Wilber, 10 miles away, to get gas because it was 2 or 3 cents a gallon cheaper.  It was cost effective back then, when gas was 30 cents a gallon.